Bug Spray Conundrum

[kodiak]

#7627

I just recently went to my hunting property to do some scouting and returned home only to find myself covered in seed ticks!! I dont want a repeat of the same scenario come opening day of bow season so I obviously need some bug repellent but I dont know what to use. Im not sure if regular deet bug spray can be detected by deer or not. Is there a scent free bug spray? Let me know what yall use to keep the bugs at bay and the results youve had in the field when encountering the prey. Thanks for the insight!!

[Chris Shelton]

#8089

man I wish I could remember the name of the stuff but there is a company that makes scent killer that is a bug repelant!! They claim to be the first, sounds like a good product . . . never tried it myself, just heard about it. I am sure that if you google it you will see it? thought I would pass on the info!

[SlowBowInMO]

#8254

I use Repel brand Permanone. It is an insecticide not a repellent and it works fantastic. I used to get hundreds of chiggar bites and now I seldom get more than just a couple a year. It works great on ticks too.

You spray it on your boots and clothes, not your skin. It doesn’t repel them, it just kills them! Best of all it really works and lasts for a couple weeks too. You can get it in the sporting goods dept. at Wal-Mart.

[Hiram]

#8469

I used to hunt Marijuana Growers in the Jungles of Arkansas years ago and have been down the seed tick route!
Turn your pants inside out and spray them with off or whatever you choose to use which contains DEET or the other derivatives. Deet works well and you can read the back of the can for it’s percentage of content in your can. Spray bottles usually have a higher content. Now that your pants are sprayed let them dry before you put them on. Coat your lower legs with Skin so Soft by Avon. Sorry it does have an odor but I would rather stay with the wind in my face than eaten by chiggs and ticks. This stuff helps with the little critters immensely. Now spray your boots before you put them on, and the tops of socks. Your pants should be dry now, so put them on, then your boots. Now for the radical thing I used to do while laying in wait for the bad guys in the brush. Wear Panty hose! Yes, I said panty hose. Ha, sounds weird right? Well I did it and it helped. I just told my wife if I get killed, make sure they know why I was wearing them lol! Naw, believe me I was not the only one.
Sulpher tabs and vineger? Well I tried that too along with Garlic. I believe that the Garlic helped the most as I drank a lot of water while in the woods during late Sept-Oct which causes you to sweat and excretes the Garlic from your pores.From the minimum to the radical, you have my antedote for those little critters which like to bite and suck your blood, Dang things!:)

[William Warren]

#9725

Eastern NC may be the chigger and tick capital of the world. I have actually used dog flea soap after trips to the bean field thicket to rid my body of chiggers. Nowadays I would use the permanone products. Here in the foothills the chigger problem is less and I prefer to get by without repellant by covering up with a head net and tucking my pant legs into knee high rubber boots to keep the occasional ticks and mosquitoes at bay.
In Canada I used 100% DEET, taped up everything and used a head net with good results but it was rough on the skin after a week of use.

[Hiram]

#9808

Yes, to much DEET is toxic! Viet Nam veterans can attest to this.

[Todd Smith]

#10171

Hiram,

Great advice! That’s the kind of info I like to read. From a ‘been there done that’ situation.

Thanks for sharing! todd

[looselystrung]

#18772

You can also spray your clothes (only the clothes!!) with Permethrin spray.Drug stores sell it under diffent names ie RID etc for spraying bedding,couches and such to kill lice/crabs. It is odorless and will stay on the fabric thru several washings.Kills the little buggers on contact!
I give my hunting pants a good dousing with it especially early fall and have never had a problem….

[Don Thomas]

#25316

If they can smell your bug spray, they can smell you. Don

[Jason Wesbrock]

#25346

donthomas wrote: If they can smell your bug spray, they can smell you. Don

Exactly! 😉

[Hiram]

#25364

If you do not use bug spray, the ticks and chiggers will eat you up! Hard to understand these possibilities unless you have been properly adorned with numerous ticks and chiggers! So, to use it, or not to use it? That is the relevance.:D

[Hiram]

#25916

One major concern in my area is Lyme disease. Bad stuff which can break your health down seriuosly. One must weigh the smell to a Hospital stay.

[T. J. Conrads]

#25933

My own experience is that Permanone is the best for ticks, 100% DEET is best for mossies, and a discontinued product called BF-100 that Cabela’s used to sell was the only thing that would keep black flies off.

I have tried to find BF-100, which was made by a company in Wisconsin, if I remember correctly. However, it seems it worked too good and the safety police shut down the manufacturing of it. The company still exists (chemical manufacturer and laboratory experimentation), but no more BF-100. It smelled like bananas and absolutely stopped those nasty bastards from chewing you up for many hours while hiking and sweating.

Just my opinion from many years of hunting in buggy, nasty places.

T.J.

[Hiram]

#25996

Thanks TJ! Very useful info. What make are those great looking D longbows I’ve seen you and Larry with in pictures? Great looking Bows. I must have one.

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